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Inspired by the anthropological writings of Marcel Mauss on the politics of the gift, this textile artwork reveals the hidden weight behind acts of garment donation.

The export of used clothing from the Global North can be understood as more than a simple gesture of charity or generosity. What appears as benevolence is, in fact, a systemic practice that redistributes the environmental and economic costs of disposal onto formerly colonized lands, while preserving the moral legitimacy of the giver.

Rooted in Damini’s ancestry and Indigenous cultural practices, the work introduces a truth-telling figure inspired by south Indian cultural performances. In these traditions, performers embody anti-authoritative spiritual entities who momentarily transcend social hierarchies and oppressive systems, to expose the uncomfortable realities.

Through the use of symbolic objects and materials, Damini transforms textile waste into a medium of testimony. In doing so, the work challenges dominant narratives of gratitude and charitable giving, and reveals how this material encounter reproduces colonial relations, now through systems of disposal rather than resource extraction. Aimed at unsettling the comfort of morality, the work asks: what does it mean to give, and who carries the cost?